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I’m pleased to share a round-up of good news for some of Threepenny Editor’s past and current clients. I’m especially happy for client Elie Axelroth, whose very first short story, “The Sound of Emptiness” was just published in The Packingdown Review. This spring also brought unexpected good news for poet and novelist Sweta Vikram, whose article will be adapted for national radio. Congratulations! Glenn Damato‘s…

I want to switch it up a little, and instead of talking about “doing” of writing, look at about the “being” of writing–specifically, writer’s block and depression. A longtime client wrote to me after a while of silence, asking a heartfelt and anguished question: “I can’t hear my characters anymore. What can I do?” The problem, she said, stemmed from a difficult bout…

What Is Received Text? When I first heard the term “received text,” its meaning wasn’t immediately clear. I thought back to my Catholic elementary school lessons, and veritable old Moses grabbing a pair of stone tablets out of the sky. Received text—good? Important? Kinda heavy? In fact, “received text” isn’t a good thing. It is a form of cliché, received…

Hello, fellow writers! As we begin a new year, it’s time to take a deep breath, acknowledge last year’s hard work, and start the project of 2015: make this year your best writing year ever. What are your goals? – Work on an aspect of your craft, such as writing dialogue that zings? – Read more published books in your…

I have been on a hunt for great editing and freelancing resources these past few weeks. The changing of the seasons always inspires me to take a fresh look at my writing and editing business, and make sure everything is on track. Once in a while, Amazon’s list of book recommendations is spot-on, and I thought I’d share a few…

Author Georgia Clark is making the jump from writing YA novels to adult fiction with a speculative twist, but made some time for a quick editor interview on writing. A little backstory: she hired me to read through her fascinating and funny new manuscript, The Regulars, before sending it off to her agent. I loved working on it for so many reasons: Besides…

Since I worked with an early draft of Patricia Vanasse’s paranormal YA manuscript in January of 2012, a lot has happened. Resilient was accepted and recently released by Pants on Fire Press, a boutique press. It also received some interest from Hollywood, and placed in the 2012 Golden Acorn Excellence in Writing Award. Any author would count these as successes, but what…

To me, being a successful book editor is all about asking myself at the end of every day, “Have I done everything possible to make this book perfect?” And indeed, last year set all kinds of records: in my number of clients, in increasing my efficiency in the administrative side of my business, in attracting new visitors to this site,…

Tomorrow, Amazon will name the winners of the Breakthrough Novel Award, its annual career-maker contest. This year over five thousand novelists submitted their manuscripts to a grueling elimination process that winnows entries down to a handful, to be chosen among by popular vote. The grand prize winner receives a $15,000 advance and a contract from Penguin; the others receive $3,000….

In one of my clients’ biggest success stories of 2011, Mill Valley writer Ross Goldstein landed a film deal for his first novel, Chain Reaction, with Paloma Productions. I learned the news last month, and am delighted to share this interview with all you writers out there who are asking yourself if a well-written novel can truly find success if…